1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus to control a liquid or semi-frozen liquid beverage or dessert dispenser. In particular, the present invention is directed to a method to control and operate a beverage or dispenser apparatus through communication between a liquid bulk storage container and the beverage or dessert dispenser apparatus.
2. Prior Art
There are a number of known beverage or dessert dispensers that include a liquid storage compartment and an onboard dispenser microcontroller which controls various functions and operating parameters of the dispenser. These devices dispense hot, chilled, or semi-frozen liquid beverages or desserts such as juice, coffee, slush and “soft-serve” desserts.
For semi-frozen beverages, the consistency is a thick slush that stands up in a cup or container. The solids content (sometimes described as “brix”) may be maintained by operation of the dispenser. In one known arrangement, a hollow stainless steel cylinder is arranged horizontally in a bowl. A helical blade driven by an electric motor continually moves across the external portion of the cylinder to scrape off or “harvest” frozen crystals formed by the refrigeration process. Accordingly, over time, the entire contents of the bowl becomes semi-frozen and the product is mixed while in the bowl. One such apparatus is described in Applicant's co-pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 10/261,846 entitled “Semi-Frozen Beverage Dispensing Apparatus”, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Liquid product to replenish the supply in the bowl may be provided from a bulk storage container. In one type of bulk packaging, a flexible inner storage membrane, such as plastic, is retained within a rigid package such as a cardboard or corrugated box. The liquid product travels from the storage container to the bowl of the dispenser via a fluid passageway tube.
Currently, it is not unusual for product manufacturers to place beverage or dessert dispensers in retail locations contingent upon the retailer using authorized products. Some of the current methods used to insure compliance include a written placement contract, periodic field inspections of the retail location, and proprietary connectors between the product storage container and the dispenser. The written placement contracts are costly and time consuming to enforce, field inspections are costly and time consuming, and proprietary connectors can be manipulated. Other compliance methods are similarly costly, time consuming or unreliable.
There remains a need to provide a system to assure that a product manufacturer's product specifications and particular products are utilized with a particular dispenser.
Existing beverage and dessert liquid mixes have different formulas for different flavors and different products. For example, a fruit based product will be different from a dairy based product. The liquid concentrate may be mixed with water in different rates depending on the product. Alternatively, some mixes are ready to use as they come from the storage container and no water is added. Various mixes may also tend to react differently when placed in a similar or same dispenser. The liquid product manufacturer is now reliant on an on-site operator to make any necessary adjustments such as the torque setting (resistance of the helical blade to movement), the mix ratio of the water to the concentrate, and to perform necessary cleaning and maintenance of the equipment. The liquid product manufacturer is also reliant on the vigilance of the retail operator to verify that the product is within code and has not expired.
It would be desirable to provide a system wherein the beverage or dessert dispenser will automatically adjust to the particular product being used based on the particular contents of liquid bulk storage container connected to the beverage or dessert dispenser.
It would also be desirable to provide a beverage or dessert dispenser that automatically adjusted mix ratios of product to water, temperature and other parameters in response.
It is also not unusual for a liquid product manufacturer to require a certain amount of usage by a retailer or retailers in order to justify placing or retaining a dispenser at the retail location. A current method to verify usage is to track purchases through a distribution channel. This can be cumbersome and ineffective because of multiple layers of distribution and because of a lack of accurate reporting of the same.
It would be desirable to have a system and procedure which could simply and automatically determine the amount of beverage or dessert usage from a particular dispenser machine at a particular retail location.
It would also be desirable to control operation of a beverage or dessert dispensing apparatus through operating control parameters supplied by a bulk storage container which parameters include out-of-date product parameters, authorization recognition parameters, initial freeze set point parameters for the product, desired concentrate ratio of the mix parameters, torque set point parameters to control refrigeration of the product, and required cleaning cycle parameters for the dispenser machine.
Finally, attempts have been made in the past to establish a wireless link between a fluid supply container and a machine. For example, see Wheeler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,888 entitled “Intelligent Fluid Delivery System For A Fluid Jet Printing System”, wherein RFID communication between an ink container and an inkjet printer is established.
There remains a need to provide two-way communication between a liquid supply container and a dispenser machine. There also remains a need to provide a wireless communication system which interfaces with an existing microcontroller on a beverage or dessert dispenser.
It would also be desirable to establish a wireless communication link providing two-way communication between a liquid bulk storage container and a beverage or dessert dispenser.